Guitars
Electric guitars built for heavy music, from budget to boutique. Playability, tuning stability, hardware, and whether the stock pickups should be swapped on day one.
Metal guitar & gear reviews
Honest gear opinions. Blame me later.
Guitars, amps, pickups, pedals and plugins, judged by someone who actually plays them through a metal rig. Not a spec sheet read out loud. If you end up buying something because of a review here, you know whose fault that is.
Latest reviews
The first reviews are in the works. New ones go up on YouTube first, then land here with the written verdict, the rating and the specs.
How this works
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I play it
Through a metal rig, at real volume, on the kind of music it's being sold for. For as long as it takes to have an opinion I'd stand behind.
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I tell you what I think
What it does well, where it falls down, who it's for and whether I'd spend my own money on it. The specs are in there, but they're not the review.
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You buy it. You blame me
That's the deal, and that's the name. Every review ends with a rating and a verdict you can act on, so you've always got someone to point at.
What I review
Five categories. One standard: would I buy it?
Amps
Tube, solid-state and modelling heads and combos. How much of the gain is actually usable, how it sits in a mix, and how it sounds at the volume you really play at.
Pickups
Humbuckers, single coils and actives for high gain. Clarity under distortion, pick attack, palm mutes, and whether the upgrade is worth the soldering.
Pedals
Overdrives, boosts, noise gates, delays and everything else that lives on the board. Does it earn its spot, or is it another box you'll sell in six months?
Plugins
Amp sims, cab IRs and studio tools for recording heavy guitars at home. What they nail, what they fake, and which ones are worth the subscription.
Why “Blame Westad”?
Because that's what people say. They watch a review, they buy the thing, and the next message is “this is your fault.” Fair enough. The name is the disclaimer: these are my opinions, from my rig, for the music I play. I'll tell you what I'd buy and what I'd skip, and I'm not going to be neutral about gear I don't like.
No spec-sheet rehashes. No “great for the price” cop-outs. One player telling you what they actually think, so you can make your own call and blame me if it goes wrong.
New reviews hit YouTube first
Subscribe and you'll have something to blame me for sooner.